🏰✨ The Monastery of Santa Maria de Seiça is an ancient Cistercian monastery founded around 1162 by King Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal. In 1834, with the extinction of the religious orders, the monastery was vacated and sold to private individuals, eventually becoming a poignant ruin. Recently (2023) it was reclassified as a national monument. It is being rehabilitated by the municipality and will be an unmissable attraction in the interior of the county.💫 #Portugal #HiddenGem #MonasteryBeauty #TravelInspiration #SantaMariaDeSeiça #MonasteryLife #SacredArchitecture #HistoricSanctuary #ExploreSeiça #CulturalHeritage #MonasticTraditions #ReligiousArt #DivineInspiration #MonasticBeauty #FigueiradaFoz #Portugal #Sonya350 #vmribeiro